District 5 Austin City Council candidate Aaron Webman said that if he had been a member of the city council in 2020, he would not have voted to remove $150 million from the Austin Police Department (APD) and cancel three cadet classes.
"I would have acknowledged that even though it's vital for us to hold bad individual police accountable, we can't be hostile toward the entire force," the candidate told Austin Journal. "The hateful rhetoric toward police has led to several negative consequences that the city is currently dealing with."
If elected, he pledged to help increase public trust and transparency in the police department.
"I would strongly discourage the outright hostility that many in our political class have toward police," he said. "I would try to fight the city's policies that hinder the APD's ability to protect and serve our communities such as bureaucratic versions of defunding. I would work with the APD to discern how to use the city's resources to invest in better training facilities and programs and I would work with the APD to help implement policies that both make policing safer and attract more strong cadets to the force."
He described public safety and crime as "paramount" issues.
"Austin's current policies are parallel to the policies of other cities around the nation that have rapidly failed," he said. "It's not too late to change course but we are rapidly approaching a point of no return."
After his first term in office, he would consider it a success if "more qualified cadets applied for training. Training methodology is based on the real world instead of ideological preferences, police morale is high because they have adequate resources for training and generally going about their jobs, hostility is mitigated and trust is increased because of better publicity between the APD and members of the community. And our police force is no longer spread too thin."
A recent poll in Austin conducted by Notley Ventures in conjunction with the Austin Monitor, found that behind affordability, public safety and crime is the biggest issue on Austin voters' minds this November.
In the wake of the George Floyd protests in 2020, Austin City Council voted unanimously (11-0) to remove $150 million through cuts and reorganization from the Austin Police Department budget and cancel three upcoming police cadet classes, the Texas Tribune reported.
Since, Austin has experienced a rise in crime, especially violent crime, leading some residents to even consider moving out of Austin, KXAN reported.
According to top officials at the police department, there is a staffing shortage that has reached a “crisis” point, KVUE reported.
District 5 covers primarily South Austin and parts of Central Austin, KVUE reported. Ann Kitchen is the current council member but is term-limited. Six candidates are running to fill the District 5 seat.